How will you define Narendra Modi? Ask his opponents

If recent barbs against BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate are any indication, this election often seems to be about defining Narendra Modi.

Days after he called Narendra Modi’s impotent in relation to his handling of the Gujarat riots of 20012, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid fired a fresh salvo at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, calling him a nursery student who thinks he is a PhD.

With the election season hotting up, the war of words among politicians is becoming the order of the day. If the recent barbs against BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate are any indication, this election often seems to be about defining Narendra Modi.

We take a look at the barbs on Narendra Modi in recent times that made the headlines:

Modi, a nursery student: Salman Khurshid

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid scaled up his attack against Modi calling him a nursery student who thinks he is a PhD. Speaking to mediapersons in Farrukhabad on Wednesday, Khurshid referred to the ‘clean chit’ to Modi in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots, saying the Supreme Court has never given one to the BJP leader. “It’s like a nursery student, who after securing good marks is assuming himself to be a doctor and a PhD,” the veteran Congress leader went on to say.

Modi, an impotent: Salman Khurshid

At a rally in Farrukhabad earlier this month, Khurshid called Modi impotent’ in relation to his handling of the post-Godhra riots in 2002. Without naming Modi directly, Khurshid, who is a sitting Member of Parliament from Farrukhabad, asked why a man who aspires to be the prime minister of the country could not do anything during the 2002 riots. “We don’t accuse you (Modi) of killing people… Hamara aarop hai ki tum napunsak ho. (Our accusation is that you are impotent). You couldn’t stop the killers,” he said.

Modi, a Hitler: Rahul Gandhi/ Nitish Kumar

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi launched a blistering attack on Modi on his home turf by comparing him with Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. “There are two kinds of leaders. The first type like Gandhiji belongs to those who go among people, have some ideology. Then there is another kind of leader, whose best example is perhaps Hitler. Hitler thought there was no need to go to people. He believed entire knowledge of the world is only in his mind. That kind of leader only talks that he did this and that. That leader does not require to go to people,” he said without naming anybody.